158 NEW- YORK FAUNA. 



GENUS ANARRHICAS. Artedi. 



Head smooth, globular, with an obtuse snout. Body elongate, with minute scales. No 

 ventral fins. Dorsal and anal distinct from the caudal fin. Teeth of two kinds : one 

 elongated, curved and pointed ; the other truncated, or abruptly rounded. Branchial 

 rays seven. 



Obs. This genus, in the proportions and form of its head, the disposition of the fins, and the 

 thin scales imbedded in mucus, exhibits its affinity with the genus Blennius. In the preceding 

 genus, we have seen the ventrals reduced to mere rudiments ; thus marking a natural passage 

 to the present, where they totally disappear. One species only is well determined; this 

 inhabits the Atlantic in high northern latitudes, descending along the shores of Europe to the 

 channel between England and France, and on the American coast, as low down as the sea- 

 shore of the State of New- York. 



THE SEA WOLF. 



Anarrhicas lupus. 



PLATE XVI. FIG. 43. 



Anarrhicas lupus. Lin. Syst. Nat. 



Sea Wolf, A. id. Mitch. Am. Month. Magazine, Vol. 2, p. 242. 

 L'Anarrhique loup. Cnv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. Vol. 11, p. 473, pi. 342. 

 Wolf-fish, A. lupus. Storer, Massachusetts Report, p. 69. 



Characteristics. Leaden grey, with dusky vertical bands on the dorsal fin, extending irregu- 

 larly over the sides. Length three to five feet. 



Description. Form subcylindrical, slightly compressed, elongate, and tapering gradually 

 to the tail. Body covered with a thick coating of mucus ; when this is scraped away, the 

 small orbicular scales are seen deeply imbedded in the skin, and giving it the appearance of 

 shagreen. Profile of the head, arched from the nape. Head compressed, rounded, slightly 

 flattened above. Nostrils small ; the posterior midway between the eye and the end of the 

 nose, with a raised margin. A circular row of pores, the termination of mucous ducts, around 

 the orbits, about half an inch apart, and nearly at the same distance from the orbit. In the 

 recent specimen, these pores may be seen crossing the snout, and meeting others from the 

 opposite side. Another series commences an inch and a half behind the eyes, and at the 

 same distance below the nape of the neck ; it first curves down, but almost immediately 

 rising to the same plane, pursues a straight course along the back an inch below the base 

 of the dorsal fin, and becomes effaced about the middle of the body. Another series of from 

 four to six pores obliquely on the cheeks, and a few scattering ones on the lower jaw. Eyes 

 moderate. Branchial rays seven. 



